Paper-money cleaner and pbesser



G. W. LEIGHTLHTNER PAPER MONEY CLEANER AND PRESSE?.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 y ...W m C w, Mm nu m WA m #WH 4 .mg TW wf W /M Q mmRMN @N Filed June 17 1925 www@ G. W. LEIGHTLETNEFE PAPER MONEY CLEANERAND PRESSER June' v1 1926.

Filed June 17l 1925 5 Sheets-Sheec 2 C1 A 05111091 1 i or,

attenua# June 1 9 NRS. v v

G. W. LEaGHTLiTNER PAPER MONEY CLEANER AND PRESSER Filed June l?l 1925 5Sheets-Sheet 3 3m-van To@ J U ma@ Elttomw Patented June 1, 1926.

UNl'lll STTES GEORGE w. LEIGETLITNER, or Aronto, PENNSYLVANIA.

PAPER-MONEY CLEANER AND PRSSER.

ppncation inea June 17, 1925. serial No. 37,760.

This invention relates to a device which is primarily intended forrenovating paper currency but may be employed as a means to clean andpress strip of any other flexible material, suoli as parchment, fabricor the like, which may have dirt removed therefrom by being firstoperated upon by scrubbers moistened with gasoline or the like and thenswabbed and pressed.

@ne object of the invention is to provide a cleaner which is soconstructed that the paper money or other strip of flexible material maybe caused to pass through the machine and be operated upon from oppositefaces so that. portions of the currency will be successively' acted uponby the scrubbing andswabbing means, and the scrubbed and swabbedcurrency thenv passed between pressers which will not Ionly serve tosmooth the same but also serve to absorb any of the gasoline or othercleaning agent which has not been take-n up by the swabbers.

Another object ofthe invention is to so construct this machine that thefeeding rollers which move the currency through the machine may berotated at a slower rate of speed than the rotating` scrubbers andswabbers, thereby permitting the strip of currency to be thoroughlyoperated upon as it moves slowly through the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of thischaracter which will be of a comparatively simple construction and notliable to readily get. out of order.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein.Figure l is a view showing the improved cleaning machine in sideelevation;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the machine;

Fig. 3 is a View in side elevation looking at the opposite side of themachine from that shown in Fig. 1;

and y Fig. is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig.4'.

The. frame of this cleaner' may be formed of wood, sheet metal or anyother suitableA Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the machine, f

will be fed and the cross strip 5 serving as means to braceA the drivesha-ft of the machine and further serving as a table or platf feedingrollers, as shown in Fig. 2. The

rollers have their shafts 8 and 9 journaled in bearings 10 which aremounted invertically extending .slots formed in the side walls 2 and 3.The shaft of the roller 6 has its end portions engaged by compressionsprings 10 so that the roller 6 will be urged into contacting relationto the roller 7 and thereby cause the currency to be firmly grippedAbetween the rollers and fed forwardly when the rollers are rotated.` Theshaft 9 of the lower roller 7 extends outwardly beyond the side wall 3,as shown in Fig. 4, and carries a pulley wheel 11 about which passes abelt 12. A clutch 18'is provided so that, if a strip-of currency whichis usually soiled is being passed through the machine, the rotation ofthe feed rollers may be interrupted and aA very thorough cleaningoperationepermitted to talre place. n

The scrubbing brushes 14 are of a conventional construction and eachincludes a shaft 15 from which extend the bristles 16. These bristlesare rotatably mounted in bearings carried by the side walls and havetheir shafts extending outwardly beyond the side wall 3 of the frame.The outer ends ofthe shafts are rotatably supported by ya bearingbracket 17 and upon these shafts there has been provided gear wheels 18so that, when the shaft of the lower brush is rotated by means of a belt19 which passes about a pulley wheel 20, rotary motion may betransmitted from the lower brush to the'upper brush. From an inspectionlof Fig. 2, it will be seen that the brushes are of such diameter thattheir bristles will ordinarily meet and, v

therefore, the brushes which will be moistened with asoline or any othersuitable cleaning flui will operate upon the upper and lower faces ofthecurrency in avery effective manner and thoroughly scrub the same.

The swabbers 21 are mounted in the frame adjacent the scrubbers and eachincludes a cylindrical body or roller 22 provided with an axiallydisposed shaft 23 which extends beyond the roller 22 so that itsextended ends may be journaled in bearings 23 carried by the side wallsof the frame. Gears 24 are carried by the end portions of the shafts 23which extend outwardly beyond the side wall 3 of the frame and the shaftof the lower swabbing roller carries a pulley wheel 25 engaged by a belt26. Itwill thus beseen that rotary movement can be transmitted to thelower swabbing roller and through the medium of the gears 24 the rotarymovement also transmitted to the upper swabbing roller. These rollersare to remove the cleaning iiuid and dirt which has been loosened ordissolved thereby and therefore, each of the rollers is provided with afacing 2T formed of fabric which will readily absorb moisture. By havingthe rollers each covered by a facing formed from a wound strip ofabsorbent fabric, the facing strips may be easily removed and new onesput in place when necessary.

After the strip of currency has been scrubbed and swabbed, it is thendesired to press it so that it will be smooth and delivered in goodcondition for use. There has, therefore, been provided upper and lowerpressers which are indicated in general by the numerals 28 and 29; Eachof these pressers includes an endless belt 30 which is formed from astrip of absorbent fabric trained about rollers 3l and 32. The stripsfrom which the pressing belts are made will bevof suoli length that theymay be trained about the rollers 31 and 32 several times and therebyprovide belts having a plurality of layers of material. Therefore, thebelts will be given sufficient body to very effectively press the stripsof currency passed between them and in addition will be permitted toreadily absorb any moisture which has not been taken up by the swabbingrollers. The rollers 31 and 32 are provided with axially extending'shafts 33 which extend beyond the ends of the rollers and are journaledin bearings 34 which are mounted in slots or aockets formed in the sidewalls of the frame. Compression springs 35 are pro vided to bear againstthe shafts of the upper rollers so that these upper rollers and the belttrained about the same will be urged downwardly and pressure vprovidedso that the adjacent lightsof the two belts will be kept in closecontact with each other and a very good pressing action applied to thecurrency as it passes between the belts. The shafts of the rollers 31are extended outwardly beyond the side wall 2 of the frame and carrygears or pinions 36 which intermesh, as shown in Fig. 3, so that rotarymotion may be transmitted from the shaft of the lower roller 3l to theupper roller.

It should be further noted that the shaft of the lower roller extendsoutwardly beyond the shaft of the upper roller and carries a pulleywheel 3( about which is trained a belt 38.

The discharge rollers 39 and 41 which in addition to discharging thecurrency may alsopserve as supplementary pressers are rotatably mountedbetween the side walls of the frame in slightly spaced relation to theDressing belts 28 and 29 and each is provided with an axially disposedshaft 4l which extends beyond the ends of the rollers. The shafts ofthese discharge rollers are rotatably mounted in bearings 42 carried inslots or pockets formed in the side walls of the frame and the extendedends of the shaft of the upper roller are engaged by springs 43 so thatthe upper roller will be urged downwardly and kept in close contactingengagement with they lower roller.

Strips 44 are secured along the upper edge` faces of the side walls -2and 3 by screws or other suitable fasteners 45 and extend across theupper ends of the slots or pockets in which the bearings of the variousrollers are mounted so that the springs which engage the shafts of theupper rollers will be held under compression and the springs, therefore,caused to apply the desired pressure to the upper shafts and urge theupper rollers downwardly into close contacting engagement with the lowerrollers. lVhen it is desired to remove the rollers or brushes for anyreason, it is simply necessary to remove the fastener screws 45 so thatthe strips 44 will be released and the upper rollers can be easilylifted out of place or the upper and lower rollers together with' thebearings removed as a unit.

r`Ehe drive shaft 46 extends between the side walls of the frame and isjournaled in bearings provided in the side walls. Between the side wallsthe drive shaft fits into a pocket 4T formed in the inner edge face ofthe platform 5, as shown in Fig. 2. lt will, therefore, be seen thatthis drive shaft will be well supported and braced. The drive shaftextends outwardly beyond both of the side walls Iof the frame and at oneend is provided with a pulley 48 about which is to be trained a belt 49.This belt 49 will .lead from a motor or other suitable source of energy.Between the pulley 48 and the side wall 2 of the frame, there has beenprovided a large pulley or drum 50 which is rigid upon the drive shaftand provided with grooves forming seats to receive the belts 38 and 5l.The belt 38, as previously stated,y is trained about the pulley wheel 37titl injecting rollers and the drive rollers of the pressing belt-s willbe rotated at a high rate of speed in comparison to the speed at whichthe drive shaft i6 rotates. The end portion of the drive shaft whichextends beyond the side wall 3 of the frame carries a, large pulleywheel or drum 53 which is of a diameter corresponding to the drum andbeyond this drum 50 there is mounted a small pulley wheel 54. The pulleywheels 53 and 54 are both rigidly secured upon the drive shaft, thepulley wheel 53 being engaged by the belts 19 and 2G which transmitrotary movement tothe scrubbing brushes and swabbing rollers and thepulley 54 being engaged by the belt 12 which transmit rotary move-nientto the feeding rollers. The pulley wheels carried by the scrubbingbrushes and swabbing rollers are `of the same size las those engaged bythe belts 38 and 51'so that the brushes and swabbing rollers are rotatedvery rapidly but the pulley 11 is a great deal larger and, in fact, isof approximately the same size as the drums 50 and 53. Therefore, thefeed rollers will be rotated very slowly so that the bill or other stripof flexible material to be cleaned will be fed very slowly through themachine and the scrubbers and swabbers therefore permitted to operate ina very effective manner upon the bill as it slowly advances between thebrushes and swabbing rollers. It should be further noted that since thebrushes and swabbing rollers rotate a great deal faster than the feedrollers they will eXert a pulling action upon the bill and thereby serveto remove any wrinkles which may have been formed in the bill. n

Then the cleaner is in use, it is mounted upon a, suitable support whichmay be the table or bench 55 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 or it may beprovided with supporting means constituting part of the frame. The driveshaft is preferably rotated by means of a drive belt 119 engaged with a.pulley 48 but the drive shaft may be rotated by means of a crank handleif so desired. As the drive shaft rotates, rotary movement istransmitted to the various rollers and to the brushes as previously setforth. The currency to be cleaned is placed upon the table or shelf 4-and is fed longitudinally towards the feed rollers. llVhen a strip ofcurrency has been moved across the table 4i a sufficient distance, oneend of it will be gripped between the feed rollers and movedforwardlybetween them until its extended forward end portion is engagedbetween the scrubbing brushes. These brushes which will be moistenedwith gasoline or any desired cleaning .fluid operate against the upperand lower faces of the bill and as the bill moves forwardly very slowlythey will very thoroughly scrub the strip of currency from oppositefaces. If the strip of currency is eX- ceedingly soiled, the clutch 13is operated to temporarily discontinue rotation ofthe feed rollersand,`therefore, the strip of currency will remain stationary untiltheportion being operated upon by the scrubber-s `ias been thoroughlycleaned. The clutch will then be again adjusted so that the `rollerswill rotate and advance the bill a desired amount. Grdinarily it is not.necessary to operate the clutch and the strip of currency movescontinually f forwardly. Afterthe strip of currencyhasbeen act-ed uponby the scrubbing brushes, it'passes be'- tween the swabbing rollers andas these rollers rotate they will serve to mop up the cleaning fiuid andremove the loosened and dissolved dirt from the two faces of thecurrency. They will also serve very effectively to smooth out anywrinkles which may remain in the strip.` After the currency` is actedupo-n by the swabbing means, it is advanced into position for passingbetween the adjacent flights of the pressing belts. `These belts moveslowly and as they are formed of absorbent fabric they will serve toabsorb any moisture which has not been entirely removed by the swabbingrollers. `lt will thus be seen that, when the currency passes out ofengagement with the pressing belts, it will be practically dry and sinceit is held flat while passing between the belts it will be deliveredfrom the belts in a very smooth condition*` The delivery rollers 39 and40 will now engage the strip of currency and cause it to be depositedupon the bottom of the frame ,between the delivery rollers and shelf 5.After a sufficient number have accumulated in this end portion of theframe, they can be` removed and either stacked upon thetable or platform5 or placed in any other desired receptacle. `If it is found that oneend portion of a strip of currency has not been thoroughly cleaned dueto the fact that the strips of currency will move at a greater rate ofspeed when released from the feed rollers, it is simply necessary toagain pass the currency through the machine with the soiled end placedfor first engagement by the feed rollers.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A machine of the character described comprising a supportingstructure, feed rollers rotatably mounted in said supporting structure,discharge rollers rotatably mounted in said supporting structure,cleaning rollers rotatably mounted in said supporting structure inspaced relation to said fee rollers and encased with fabric, cleaningbrushes rotatably mounted in said supporting structure between said feedrollers and cleaning rollers, supporting rollers rotatably mounted insaid supporting structure between and adjacent said cleaning rollers anddischarge rollers, endless fabric belts trained about said supportingrollers and moving longitudinally of 'the supporting structure when saidsupporting rollers 'are rotated, a drive shaft rotatably mounted in saidsupporting structure, and means for transmitting rotary movement fromsaid drive shaft to said rollers with the feed rollers rotating slowerthan the other rollers.

2. A machine ofthe character described comprising a supportingstructure, feed rollers rotatably mounted in said supporting structure,discharge rollers rotatably mounted in said supporting structure,cleaning rollers rotatably mounted in said supporting structure inspaced relation to said feed rollers and encased with fabric, cleaningbrushes rotatably mounted in said supporting structure between said feedrollers and cleaning rollers, supporting rollers rotatably mounted insaid supporting structure between and adjacent said cleaning rollers anddischarge rollers, endless fabric belts trained about said supportingrollers and moving longitudinally of the supporting structure when saidsupporting rollers are rotated, and means for imparting rotary movementto said rollers with the feed rollers turning at a slower rate of speedthan the other rollers.

3. A machine of the character described comprising a supportingstructure, upper and lower fee-d rollers rotatably mounted adjacent oneend of said supporting structure, a feed table between said rollers andthe said end of said supporting structure, upper and lower cleaningrollers rotatably supported in said supporting structure in spacedrelation to said feed rollers and each having a facing of absorbentmaterial, upper and lower cleaning brushes rotatably mounted in saidsupporting structure between said cleaning rollers and feed rollers(upper and lower discharge rollers rotatably mounted in said supportingstructure in spaced relation to said cleaning rollers, upper and lowercleaning and pressing belts of absorbent material disposed between saidcleaning rollers and comprising a supporting structure, feed meansmounted in said supporting structure, discharge means mounted in saidsupporting structure, swabbing means mounted in said supportingstructure in spaced relation to said feed means, cleaning means mountedin said supporting structure between said feed means and swabbing means,rollers rotatably mounted in said supporting structure between andadjacent said swabbing means and l discharge means, endless belts ofabsorbent material trained about said supporting rollers and movinglongitudinally of the supporting struct-ure when the rollers are rotatedand adapted to have their adjacent flights engage opposite faces of acleaned and swabbed strip of material, a drive shaft rotatably mountedin said supporting structure, and means for transmitting movement fromsaid drive shaft to said rollers, drive means, cleaning means, swabbingmeans and discharge means.

5. A machine of the character described comprising a frame, scrubbingmeans, swabbing means, discharge means, feeding means, rollers rotatablysupported between said swabbing means and discharge means, andcooperating endless drying and smoothing belts trained about saidrollers and moving longitudinally between the swabbing means anddischarge means for engaging opposite faces of a scrubbed and swabbedarticle.

In testimony whereof I afHX my signature.

esoneri w. LEIGHTLITNER. [a e]

